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Greetings gentle readers: Been very busy here in the country, keeping track of all the glasses, the ice machine, the key to the adult beverage cabinet. Many shows this time of year, keeps me out of trouble. I will be at the IBM convention this year in Reno, come July, a lovely time to be in Northern Nevada. Hope to see a lot of you devious folk there, it will be a grand time, I assure you. How do you like the new look of things here? I think its great, makes it easy for me to get around and find things. I hope you like it. Oops, gotta go. It's what we call "happy hour" here, and that can only mean one thing.
I'll stop writing for now, hope Dacri says this is good enough for now, and I will get back to all of you later. Soon. I promise. Break a thread, Terrence
I thought time to send the Dacri some more notes from me to you!!!!. I was so sorry to miss the SAM big 100, but you just cannot do everything you want. I hear it was a good convention the shows were packed ("just work to the rows of seats you can see in the front...the rest will follow") Talent organizer R. G. Smith did it again!!!. Hope to be there next year. I was working at that time with an English legend of variety and comedy and movies, Sir Norman Wisdom, and what a thrill to play to packed out theatres seating from between 1750 to 3000 at the famous Blackpool Opera House. It renewed my faith in theatre work and maybe all is not yet lost!!!!. I feel a lot of performers do not know the difference in working a cabaret floor as against a large theatre, and believe you me, there is a great difference. I have seen great cabaret type workers, stand on a theatre stage and just work to the front few rows of people they can see, and ignore the back of the stalls and the circle, the gallery and even the side boxes. You have to take the whole theatre in with your head movements, your eyes and your gestures. It is now, at last, summer in England and after one of the wettest springs we have had, the sun is now shining and the doors and windows are open. We shall still moan about the weather and say "why don't we have air conditioning like they do in the good old USA!!!!!. at least as one dashes around the country it makes driving so much easier as so many of our country roads have no street lights and no names up of the streets. I have always liked the American way of putting street names on the light posts, and then they don't get stolen or knocked off!!!. You can see them easily as well. This summer the work is as varied as always, and the only jobs I do not enjoy are the ones in the open air and in tents. The open air is a headache if there is any wind around, but if you are using silk hanks I put a small piece of lead shot on one corner of the hanks, and this holds them much steadier. I use the small lead shots that people who fish use, to weigh down the hook below the float. It is difficult to find these now as Ibelieve the law prohibits their use as broken lines damage the bird life. Next month in August I am working a cruise ship on a trip around the British Isles which should be interesting. As one travels the world, I very rarely visit myown country. Shall be sailing to the Orkeny and Shetland Islands and then to the west coast of Scotland, then to Dublin in Ireland and south to the Scilly isles, followed by the coast of France,(to stock up on cheap wine), and then up the river Thames to the Tower of London. Should be a good one and only three shows to do. September looking forward very much to the Magic of the Rockies convention near Denver, and back to my favourite place, the Magic Castle, in November. Well there you have some more ramblings from the old guy!!!!. Must get ready for tonight as I will be at my favourite UK club, THE WATFORD ASSOCIATION OF MAGICIANS, where I am honourd to be their President. The initials WAM stand for our club and have done so for nearly 55 years.......don't confuse us with that other strange WAM set up, which I and many others feel have done absolutely no good for magic!!!!!!. That should set a few hackles rise!!!!!!!!!. Happy magical times. Terry Seabrooke Another Previous Column: Well, the old country has recovered as the Dacri's have left us at last!!!!!. To be honest it was a joy having them around. They were great fun to work with at Southport convention and Idid enjoy working some comedy bits with Steve in which somehow we got laughs!!!!!. The evenings at my local Conservative Club were just great and the snooker matches with my son Keith and Steve were like a mini-Olympic Games. I have a feeling that Steve could be a very good Pool hustler!!. So finally they left our country to us natives, and I thought I can now get on with some work and writing and hurtling around town on one nighters, but forgetting what time of the year was coming up. At this point I must explain that I just love all sport, and we were then right in the season where just about everything was going on. The soccer world cup, cricket test matches with Sri Lanka, formula one auto races, the Derby our biggest horse race and the famous Royal Ascot horse racing festival, and on top of all this the Queens Golden Jubilee. It is all too much for a sports lover like me!!!!. On the soccer world Cup, how good it was to see USA doing so well and at last getting into what surely is the worlds most played and popular sport - at one time i had a vision of a USA versus England final!!!!!. It was not to be - my gag for the tournement was what is the difference between the French soccer team and a tea bag??. Well, a tea bag stays in the cup for much longer!!. Topical humor is so valuable for folks who work like me, but so hard to find at times. Well , now I can get back to a sport and DACRI free life ----no, wait a minute. I just see that the Wimbledon tennis fortnight starts today!!!!!!. Ohe dear, pour out a scotch and turn up the TV and get out the tennis gags. Try the one with a tennis ball that it is in my book - it really does work well this time of year. My book is obtainable at all good and not so good magic dealers!!!!. Hope to meet up with some of you at the Magic In The Rockies convention in September, so for now its over to you, Steve. Seabrooke the almost great!!!!!. Seabrooke's First Column: The last week was like a magic convention on wheels, with all going on in the Watford area. Firstly, Billy McComb arrives at Heathrow aIirport, loaded down with duty frees and a load of card tricks to stay in my spare room for a few days. At the same time, Steve was staying about 7 miles away in Borehamwood with Rob Cox and Mandy, so of course several meetings were held, mostly at my local conservative club, which ended up with the club not being very conservative!!!!. The regulars did enjoy the banter and the magic, and the McComb resitations regarding the state of magic, and also the history of the McComb family from the days where they seemed to own Ireland. TOP Steve really blew them away with his sponge rabbits routine - well lets face it, the members of the club are usually only used to seeing your scribe perform... and none of them will lend me a banknote anymore!!!!. Watching the boys working I noticed it was the simple tricks they all enjoyed so much - no counting of cards, no wierd looking props...and all done with ordinary bits and pieces - no props or magical looking bits. I feel this is what close up should all be about - you are a miracle worker so all you use should come out of the pocket or be picked up from the bar or the table. I saw a well known guy last year at a leading London hotel go off to work the tables with chinese sticks hanging out of his pockets, linking rings on a clip on his pants belt, and a large set of cups and balls in another jacket pocket. For my money this is not REAL close up magic. It surely must be more natural in the way that Billy and Steve were working impromptu those days in the club. Got home from one of the sessions and first phone call was from Topper Martyn in Sweden,a most charming fellow with so much magical knowledge and history to talk about. He is coming to UK in June to be a headliner at the Milton Keynes Magic Day, a very good small convention, so Billy got on the line to him and needless to say another lengthy conversation took place!!!. At least I was not paying for the call!!!!. McComb has now gone off to Spain by way of Gibraltar, and Steve has a lecture tonight at the Magic Circle (his 28th lecture on a tour of 28 lectures...I guess that makes this one his final of the tour) and then off he goes to good old USA, where he begins a US Lecture tour which begins Thursday in Michigan, his first US lecture tour I might add). I follow him to USA on Sunday for a week at the Castle working the usual crap!!!!!. So many great people to meet when you are there, it is just like coming home for me - it will be the first time for many years when my best pal McComb will not be there, still that should steer me well clear of trouble! Neither Steve or Jan will be there either, so who will be making me breakfast nd buying the booze? I am going to work the Parlour this trip and that is a room I always enjoy. You have to have a differfent approach from working the Palace, and this is good for one as it stops you from getting into a rut. You know, folks who mostly work floor shows and cabaret rooms, they often do not realise the difference when you come to work a theatre stage, and there is a lot of points you have to take into account. Of all the places to work, a large theatre for me is the favourite and I feel so much at home - lets face it, the audience cannot get at you then. As the guy said,"the audience were with me all the way, but I managed to shake them off in Santa Monica"!!! Thats all for this time - maybe more from me later if Steve has some room - talking of room I had better go up to the Mcomb suite and see what state he left it in. Bet he has left something behind as usual! Happy Magicing to you all. Terry Seabrooke.HOME / TOP Drop us a note if you have any suggestions for Terry to write about in the future on this page |
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